Touch Fabrics

This sensorial lesson is designed for 3 to 6-year-old children to help them touch and discriminate different textures and materials. 

In early childhood, Montessori activities focus heavily on the refinement of children’s senses – tactile sense is one of them. Tactile development is essential, as it helps children identify and discriminate an object through touch and feel. It also helps in social and emotional development, visual discrimination, and academic progression.

What is a Montessori Fabric Box?

The Montessori Touch Fabrics is a sensorial material for primary-level children to isolate their tactile sense for refinement.

It is a wooden box containing 12 squares of fabric (all cut out of the same size). There are two swatches of each fabric for pairing. 

The fabrics include natural materials such as silk, cotton, wool, jute, flax, velvet, etc.

What is the Purpose of Montessori Touch Fabrics?

In this activity, the child learns to match fabrics by touch without looking at the fabric. It enables children to notice patterns and grooves that match a fabric’s texture. It also helps language development.

Control Of Error

The child does this fabric-touching exercise with his eyes closed and cross-checks the pairing of fabrics once the exercise is completed.

How to Present the Montessori Touch Fabrics to the Child?

Before starting this activity, ask the child to wash their hands, as it helps a child to discriminate between textures accurately. 

1. Invite the child to carry the box of Touch Fabrics to the working mat.
2. Open the box and keep the lid at the bottom of the box.
3. Now, ask the child to pick one fabric from the box and feel it while closing their eyes. 
4. Ask them to describe what they feel.
5. Ask them to place the fabric on the working mat.
6. Repeat steps 3 to 5.
7. Remove the matching smooth square from the box and allow the child to feel it. Ask the child if they felt this texture before.
8. Let the child answer yes. Now, ask the child which fabric is the same as the one you are holding.
9. Place the matching fabrics together based on their texture.
10. Now ask the child to repeat steps 3 to 9 until they make all the 6 pairs.
11. Allow them to open their eyes and cross-check the pairing.

Repeat this exercise to improve the tactile sense of the child.

Watch the video to learn how to introduce touch fabric activity to the child.

Such activities encourage the development of fine motor skills, concentration, coordination, and memory.

More Sensorial Videos:

1. Introduction to primary colors using color tablets
2. Introduction to secondary colors using color tablets
3. Introduction to thermic tablets

For more practical life resources, click here.

Video created by: Strykun Olena